Chapter 27: Whitehorse

 Chapter 27: Whitehorse

September 9, Tuesday  83 miles (7886)

  Today was awful - a real low point. I was unenthused about riding right from the start, and I was tired of pushing for the arbitrary goal of Whitehorse. I wasn't making good time to begin with, and then after Beaver Creek, I suddenly got a tremendous headwind. As if that weren't enough, I came to a stretch where they were watering the road. I had heard about this but couldn't believe it. 

 The tractor-trailer tank truck had clearly already made at least two passes before I got there, and it went by three more times, till the road was just mud. I was in total despair; a sunny day, and I had to ride in mud. I screamed curses at the wind and the water truck and the whole world until I was hoarse, and I decided that I would start hitching when I got to Koidern, the next town. 

 Somehow I kept pedaling though, and by the time I got to Koidern, the road was dry again, and the wind had even shifted around to where it was almost a tailwind. I wanted to buy a sundae with my mad money, but the café in Koidern didn't serve ice cream. I settled for an ice-cream-on-a-stick and felt a little better.

 The weather seems good enough that I'm going to risk it tonight and sleep under the stars. Last night I stayed in an abandoned log cabin - even had a bed, of sorts.

September 10, Wednesday  56 miles (7942)

A frosty start to the day.

 I was as discouraged this morning as I was yesterday, feeling that I'll never make Whitehorse the way I'm going. It was a lot colder than past days, which didn't help. It was 25 degrees when I woke up; not unlike other mornings, but clouds kept the sun from warming it up for a long time. I got a late start, and it was slow going, what with stopping to warm my hands and feet, and the wind chill keeping my speed down anyway. 

A construction crew was working on the Donjek River bridge, and when the flag woman asked how I was doing, I told her the truth: "Not very well, thanks." She sympathized and said I could get some coffee down at the cook trailer. We talked for a while - she's done some bike touring herself - and then I went to the cook trailer. I figured I was making such poor time anyway, I might as well take a break and warm up. Besides, they had just drenched the road ahead so I didn't mind letting it dry up some.

Kim the cook was nice - gave me coffee, and gingerbread cookies fresh out of the oven. When I left, I went back to thank Jan and talk with her a bit more, as she seemed genuinely interested. While I was there, the crew had lunch and shared it with me; hot soup and sandwiches. It was fun to sit around and compare notes on inspectors I had while working construction in Connecticut, and the inspector they had, etc. 

It almost seemed to get colder while I was there, and after I left, it even snowed a few wet flakes. The sun did come out eventually, but only for an hour or so. Then it was back on with the wool shirt, jacket, mittens, and leggings.

I went through several more stretches where they were watering the road, and got good and muddy. And of course there was the ever present headwind. Not as strong as yesterday, though. 

My chain has needed oil for days, and I never think of it when I pass a gas station. After the mud today, it was making so much noise I couldn't stand it, and I know I was wasting a lot of energy because of the friction. In desperation, I put some of my good bearing grease on it. 

As I said, I was really discouraged this morning, so much so that I was talking with Jan about hitching, but again I just kept pedaling and by this evening I felt that I was too close to throw it all away. It helps that a lot of people wave vigorously and smile admiringly when they see me on the road. I am something of a hero again, as in days on the Dempster. I'm one of the holdouts - a die-hard, biking the Alaska Highway after the first snow has fallen and the "dandelions" (as locals call seasonal residents) have left for the winter.

But I kind of feel like one of my Wilderness School students on final expedition, too, with my instructors relentlessly pushing me. "I want to quit!"  How will you feel later? "But I'm sick of pushing for a goal you set for me."  Your goal was to finish this course. "Well, I'll feel just as good if I hitchhike."  Baloney! What about that Whitehorse T-shirt? Will you be proud to have a Whitehorse T-shirt if you hitchhike the last lousy 200 miles? Think of what that T-shirt will mean if you ride this old bike in, tired and muddy and doggone proud!  So I guess I'll ride the rest of the way, come hell or high water. 

 

Tonight will be my first night of the trip in a motel! I'm in Room 17 of the Destruction Bay Lodge. It's abandoned, of course, but still, it's a motel and not in too bad condition; a double bed, even! ... Ahh! 

 September 11, Thursday  115 miles! (8057)

 

 Incredible day! With a good night's sleep and a fairly early start, an actual tailwind some of the time, moderate terrain, great weather, and the smell of the barn in my nose, I cranked off my longest day of the trip, and on pretty lousy dirt road too - the worst of the worst, including washboard, mud, and dust. Spectacular scenery - the peak of the peak fall colors - no trees have green leaves anymore.

 

It hasn't sunk in that tomorrow is the last day. I tried to break the news to myself by singing songs - "Tomorrow's the day my rides a-gonna end," "Urge for Going," and "500 Miles," but it didn't really hit home. I'm still just excited and happy about the thought of getting to Whitehorse.

 Realizing that this will be my last night camping in the Yukon, I wanted to make it a good one. I camped next to some folks with a motor home - Major Don McDonald and his son Kyle. I had dinner with them and sat around their fire till they went to bed. Then I stayed up by myself, trying to listen to the coyotes howl and the owls hoot. The generator on Don's motor mansion was going almost constantly, though, and I was starting to feel disgusted and discouraged and ready to just go to bed, when I looked up and saw that the sky was ablaze with northern lights.

 That did it. I picked up my stuff and moved out into the open, far enough that I couldn't hear the generator, and lay there listening to the coyotes and owls and even some wolves way in the distance, and looking up at a truly spectacular, amazing, breathtaking display of northern lights, swirling, rippling, and flashing all the way across the starry, starry sky. It was a perfect grand finale for my time in the North. 

 September 12, Friday  50 miles (8107)

Well, I guess this is it. I was cold last night, and woke up often, but it was such a beautiful night that I didn't mind. I dawdled a bit this morning, and even had some breakfast in the Monster Mobile with Don and Kyle. The temperature was also not conducive to an early start; 22 degrees this morning, and a bit slow to thaw. It did eventually warm nicely, though, and by midday I was in just my nylon shirt. I rode pretty hard, but my left knee was hurting a lot. It had started bothering me last night, but I chalked it up to being the end of a 115-mile day, and figured a night's rest would take care of it. No such luck; today it got so bad I was peddling almost entirely with my right leg.

 I still made Whitehorse by 4:00. The first 30 or so miles were chip-and-seal - the lowest form of pavement - crushed stone bound together with sprayed-on asphalt... as bad as dirt in many respects. The last stretch was good pavement, though, and I even had a bit of tailwind(!)

 

 I tried to think of End-of-the-Trip songs to sing, and put effort into accepting the fact that this incredible 5-1/2 month odyssey is almost over, but I guess I was/am too distracted by all the things I have to do in order to leave on the 10:30 bus tomorrow morning. (There's not another bus till Tuesday.) I had called ahead to Denise, whose number I had gotten from a guy I met on the Dempster Highway, to ask her to hunt up a box for the bike, and she had located one at a waterbed shop. When I got to town, I met her there, and we took the box back to her apartment. We packed up the bike and as much other stuff as we could, washed my clothes, and I took a serious shower!